Now I Know
by ximcarebear
Summary: Gabriella throws all of Neil's stuff out of the balcony. Little did she know someone is watching her from the tree. Someone like Troy Bolton?


Gabriella ran into her room, tears running down her face. Her latest ex-boyfriend, Neil, just broke up with her yesterday and then today, she found him making out with Alicia, the head cheerleader. She slammed the door loud; don't really care if her mother is going to yell at her for slamming. She grabbed the frame picture of her and Neil and threw it against the wall. The frame shattered against the wall and fell to the floor. She picked up the picture and ripped it into little pieces. She threw it in her garbage can. Then she ran to her closet and took out Neil's t-shirt and sweatshirts. She threw them out of the balcony and ran to her closet for more. She was about to grab another of Neil's sweatshirt when she found something else. It was a picture of her and Troy, her best friend.

She sighed. Troy told her he liked her last week, but she rejected him because she thought she was in love with Neil. She thought wrong. Damn it.

She grabbed the picture and set it on her nightstand. She grabbed another of Neil's sweatshirt and threw it out of the balcony. She didn't notice someone sitting on the tree, watching her.

She took off the sweater that she was wearing. It was a sweatshirt that Neil gave her for her seventeenth birthday. It costed about two hundred dollars. She really loved the sweater, but it reminded her of Neil, so she decided to throw it out. She saw a hand catch that sweater and turned around to see Troy standing there.

"I don't think you should throw that away." Gabriella turned around and ignored him. She walked back into her room and into her bathroom to find any makeup Neil bought her. Troy sat on Gabriella's bed and noticed the picture of him and her. He smiled and his heart skipped a beat just by looking at it. Gabriella came back from the bathroom with a handful of cosmetics and threw it out of the balcony.

"Why are you throwing out stuff? Trying to have a garage sale on your lawn?"

"I'm not in the mood of your teasing, Troy. Just get out of here." She ran back into the bathroom and grabbed another handful of cosmetics. She threw it out of the balcony and ran to find a perfume Troy bought her. She remembered the smell and it was really delicate. It was called 'With Love' by Hilary Duff. She pushed the perfume bottle to the side as she grabbed more cosmetics from Neil and threw out of the balcony.

"I don't even know why you're doing this," Troy said as he watched her going back and forth.

"Because I want nothing to do with him anymore. He's such a jackass and he deserves a slut from now on."

"But he wouldn't really care if you're throwing your stuff out of the window. Just because he bought it, doesn't mean he'll care if it's out of the window."

"He will care when I shread his varsity jacket in a blender." Gabriella ran for more when Troy grabbed her wrist and pulled her down on bed. He climbed on top of Gabriella. She looked into his eyes; how come she never noticed the blueness in his eyes?

"Calm down, Gabi. He's just a guy. You don't have to do this."

"But he… he broke my heart."

"That's why you got to forgive and forget. Throwing out his stuff isn't gonna change anything." Gabriella pushed him off of her and stood up.

"You have no right to talk about him like that."

"If I don't, then you don't have the right to throw his stuff out."

"That's my business."

"And I'm butting in it. Gabi, just forget about it."

"It's really hard."

"Then take your time. Having your heart heal takes time." Gabriella walked over to the head of her bed and sat on it. She grabbed a blue Carebear that Troy got her at the carnival a month ago and squeezed it tight.

"You really like that Carebear?" Gabriella nodded.

"It's my favorite color."

"Mine too."

"Why are you here again?"

"I saw the look in your eyes when you saw Neil and Alicia. So I thought I'd pay you a visit and make sure you don't go emo and cut yourself."

"I'm not stupid. I'm just depressed."

"He's not worth it. No guy is worth your tears. Not even me." He took a tissue from her nightstand and wiped her tears. His skin touched with hers, feeling the smoothness of her cheeks. She grabbed his hand and took out the tissue from his hands.

"I got it." Troy nodded and pulled back. She wiped her mascara tear stains off her cheek and got up. "I'm gonna wash my face." She walked into her bathroom and let the faucet water run. She looked in the mirror and saw her puffy eyes. She splashed water on her face and grabbed her facial wash. She squeezed some out and washed her face. She splashed more water and turned the faucet off. She wiped her face with a towel. She looked in the mirror again. Her face was clean but her eyes were still puffy.

She walked back into her room, finding Troy asleep on her bed. She rolled her eyes and grabbed a green Abercrombie cami and gray sweats from her old school at San Diego. She changed it in the bathroom and came back seeing Troy looking at the ceiling.

"Weren't you just asleep?"

"I was just closing my eyes." Gabriella sat down next to him.

"Well, you can see I'm fine now. You can leave." He sat up, face so close to hers.

"Oh no, you never know. You might start cutting yourself when I leave, so I'm staying until I know you're going to be in control."

"Why do you care about me so much? I'm not like the girls you went out and cared for."

"Exactly. You're different. You don't care about my popularity or my status. You like me for me."

"How do you know that? Maybe I'm friends with you because then I can be popular too."

"Puh-lease. Last basketball game, you went to sit with Taylor and Sharpay instead of sitting behind me. Usually people who sit behind the basketball players want attention. Everyone looks there."

"So? I wanted to sit with Tay and Shar."

"Then how about last time when I asked to go the homecoming dance with me?"

"I didn't want to go with you because Kelsi didn't have a date."

"Jason asked her to the dance."

"That was the day after you asked me to the dance. I couldn't say 'oh Troy, I can go to the dance with you now since Kelsi has a date'."

"You could. I would have let you."

"It doesn't matter. I still had fun."

"Yeah."

"Anything else you'd like to clear up?"

"Everything. You seriously don't like me? I mean…" Troy buffed his chest out. "I'm Troy Bolton."

"Yeah, you're Troy Bolton a.k.a. the cockiest guy alive." She slapped his chest hard and he fell back. She giggled.

"I feel so hurt. What ever shall I do?"

"Go get a bandage. There's some downstairs." He shot up.

"I'm good." She laughed and playfully hit him the arm. "Ow. Geez Miss Montez, you hit hard."

"Maybe I do. But it doesn't compare to Troy Bolton, who beat up a guy just because he was making fun of me?"

"It wasn't my fault. My hands had a mind of their own."

"Then you gotta control them."

"I'll try." Gabriella smiled. "So are you cool? Are you gonna cut yourself?"

"Maybe, if you leave."

"Then I'll stay."

"You can't stay here forever."

"As long as it gets you the 'cutting myself' out of your mind." There was a silence between them. "You seriously don't like me?"

"I don't know. I just got out of a relationship, Troy. You can't rush love."

"You really loved him, did you?" Gabriella lowered her head. "I don't mind. You can tell me the truth."

"I thought I loved him, but I guess I was just replacing it with hurt."

"It just shows that you guys aren't meant to be."

"Then who do you think is perfect for me?"

"You guess."

"You?"

"What do you think?"

"I think not. You're too cocky for me." Troy chuckled.

"Fine. Who else?"

"I have no one else on my mind."

"Maybe Neil?"

"Nahh. He can suck his own dick while at it."

"You're really over him?"

"Sure." Troy leaned in and kissed her lips. She pulled back, shocked.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"Er…"

"I think I should leave."

"Aren't you going to stay?"

"No." He got up and went into the balcony. Gabriella wanted to get up so bad and run after her, but she felt herself stopping herself. What is she doing?

Troy climbed down the tree and walked toward his Range Rover. Gabriella watched him as he got into his car. He started his engine and drove away.

Gabriella watched where Troy's car was. He was driving out of her life. No. She doesn't want him to leave. Wait, is she falling for him? No way, she just broke up with Neil. Oh, fuck it.

She ran out of her room and slipped on her green Converses.

"Gabi, where are you going?" her mother asked.

"I'll be right back." She ran out of the house and got into her Beetle. She drove all the way down the street.

* * *

40019, 40021… 40034! She parked in the driveway and saw Troy's car was just entering the garage. She turned off the engine and stepped out of the car.

"Wait!" Troy turned around to see Gabriella running toward him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, square on the mouth.

Troy's eyes widened, but he kissed back. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in deeper. After a few seconds, she pulled back.

"Why did you leave?" she whispered against his forehead.

"Because I thought you wanted me to."

"No, I never did."

"Now I know." Gabriella smiled and kissed him there. Suddenly, it started raining.


End file.
